MOUNT VERNON — Three Knox County fire departments were among the 2022 recipients of the Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) Grant Awards announced earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine.
These grants are awarded to fire departments throughout Ohio to financially support MARCS radios, which are used statewide by first responders and law enforcement in order to effectively communicate with one another.
Bladensburg Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) received $5,160, Mount Vernon Fire Department (MVFD) received $9,000, and Central Ohio Joint Fire Department (COJFD) received $9,702.02.
This was the first year that the Mount Vernon Fire Department received money from the MARCS Grant Awards. According to Chief Chad Christopher, the MVFD will use the equipment grants they received to begin replacing some of the station’s current hand-held Kenwood radios, many of which have been in use since 2014.
“With any radio equipment they need to be updated, so we’re going to start the process with updating a few, a couple portable radios every year so we don’t have to have that … big cost all upfront,” Christopher said.
Citing the radios’ high costs, Christopher believes that with the grant money, the MVFD should be able to purchase about 2-3 new hand-held radios.
“We’re just very fortunate that we were able to get some money this time,” he said.
The Central Ohio Joint Fire Department will use the money they received to buy new radios for a command vehicle as well as new portable radios.
“The grants are pretty sizable,” said Chief Mark McCann, but even so, with the high costs of these radios, the department will most likely only be able to purchase about 4-5 pieces of equipment.
According to McCann, having multiple radios in the command vehicle, which is the fire chief’s vehicle, is necessary at larger scenes in order to communicate with everyone.
With the grant funds, the command vehicle will now have two radios to make it easier to manage more chaotic situations with a number of first responders at the scene.
The COJFD will also be able to purchase two portable radios for the riding positions on the vehicles, the pump operator, and the company officer, both are whom are responsible for having knowledge about how to most effectively attack the fire with water from pumps and fire hydrants, and communicating the plan to the firefighters at the scene.
McCann noted he is very grateful for the grants that his station received, considering the difficulty of obtaining them as well as the fact that this will be the last year that the Chamber of Commerce offers these grants.
The MARCS radios make communication between first responders from different Ohio counties more efficient and the process of responding to an emergency “so much easier,” said Laura Webster, operations manager for Knox County 911.
In the event a fire department needs more equipment or assistance from another station in a different county, the responders at the scene are able to communicate with the dispatchers they were called to assist thanks to the Multi-Agency Radio Communication System.
To be eligible for the MARCS Grant, fire departments must have service areas of 25,000 residents or less. Fire departments can apply for grants to help fund the user fees they have to pay each month for their radios, or for equipment fees, to replace old radios and buy new ones.
Priority funding goes to departments that apply as a part of a regional or county-wide effort, as well as to departments that have evidence that they will be able to immediately begin using the MARCS radios once they receive the money.
This year, the selection process was highly competitive, as the State Fire Marshal received more than $8.5 million in requests, despite there being only $3.5 million available.
According to Webster, Knox County Ohio 9-1-1, the county’s emergency dispatch agency, requires all of the fire departments in Knox County to apply for the MARCS user fee grants.
In the case that some fire departments do not receive these grants, Knox County Ohio 9-1-1 will pay the fees for as long as their budget allows.
